A UK manufacturer of oceanographic, hydrographic and hydrometric instrumentation has reported a surge in sales of tide gauge equipment in its most recent quarter. Valeport said that sales of tide gauge equipment rose 22% over the same period in 2016.
Sales across the portfolio of tide gauge instrumentation including TideMasters, Radar sensors and the TideStation are seemingly significantly ahead of forecast.
Valeport’s tidal observation hub, TideStation, optimizes performance of instrumentation and is designed to be flexible in its configuration and has the firm’s tide gauge system at its core, said to be an industry leading technology. The compact and robust TideStation unit offers pressure, radar and hybrid tidal observation techniques coupled with interfaces to other meteorological, telemetry and third party systems.
The TideMaster provides an accurate, versatile and easily deployed tide gauge for use in short or long term survey operations, says Valeport. TideMaster is compatible with a wide range of hydrographic software and tools. A control/display panel, Bluetooth, SD card memory and an optional weather sensor provide unrivalled functionality. Low power consumption and a user selectable sampling regime allow for up to a year of autonomous operation, whilst optional telemetry packages extend the capabilities for real time operations.
Radar sensors developed by Valeport such as the VRS-20, which is a pulsed k-band radar level sensor, are designed to work seamlessly with the TideMaster tide logger and to operate standalone with optional integrated GPRS telemetry or interface to a third party data logger. Versatile and simple to install, the VRS-20 addresses a number of the issues traditionally associated with water level measurement. The non-contact technology removes the installation, corrosion and fouling issues of submerged sensors, while simplifying datum control. Accuracy and performance are unaffected by changes in water density and atmospheric conditions.
The positive sales performance for the tide gauge portfolio follows a similar rosy picture across all Valeport product sectors as Kevin Edwards, Valeport sales and marketing manager, commented:
“We’re at the half way mark in our financial year and we’re delighted to see such an acceleration in sales, we’re ahead of target and production is extremely busy. Not only are we seeing our tide gauge products being incredibly popular at the moment, with us working at full capacity to meet deliveries, but we’ve also seen a significant step change in sales to the oil and gas sector – with SVX2s, IPS and Altimeters reporting strong sales.”
